Yankees Win AL Wild-Card Series Over Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox’s season ended after a 4-0 Game 3 loss to the New York Yankees, who won the best-of-three AL Wild-Card Series and will advance to face the AL East champion Toronto Blue Jays in the Division Series starting Saturday. Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler dominated Game 3 with eight shutout innings and 12 strikeouts, while Boston managed just three runs across Games 2 and 3. A decisive four-run fourth inning in Game 3 was driven by a sequence of defensive miscues — a bloop that fell off a glove, balls skirting gloves, and a first-base error — that turned a manageable deficit into an insurmountable one. Red Sox rookie starter Connelly Early threw three scoreless innings before collapsing in the fourth and drew criticism for manager Alex Cora’s handling. Boston opened the series with Garrett Crochet striking out 11 over 7 2/3 innings in a 3-1 Game 1 victory. Boston finished 89-73 — its first postseason berth since 2021 — and Cora said the club has made progress even as offseason questions about defense and roster decisions loom.